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Tuesday, 30 May 2017

The Lies of Far-Right Zionist
Solicitor Robert Festenstein in his letter to QEII Centre

Part of the Zionist campaign on social media to censor anything to do with Palestine

It was
predictable that Palestine Expo 2017,
a celebration of Palestinian culture, art, food, music and politics would,
sooner or later, come to the attention of the Zionist movement in this
country. Robert Festenstein of the ‘Jewish Human Rights Watch’ [JHRW] sent a
threatening and intimidatory letter to the managers of the Queen Elizabeth II Centre
on the South Bank of the Thames alleging that the Conference and the groups
behind it are terrorist supporters and that their sole purpose is ‘Jew-hate’.

Support for
the Palestinians and opposition to Zionism is, according to the Zionist/Israel lobby
in this country, automatically ‘anti-Semitic’ and also supporting ‘terrorism’. Thus we seen how the anti-terror climate in
this country is being used to try and clamp down on free speech.

I have
written Festenstein a letter [see bottom of page] by way of response as his letter is a clear abuse of his position as a solicitor
and a thinly veiled attempt to use his position as a solicitor in order to try an
intimidate the Queen Elizabeth II Centre
into calling off a perfectly lawful festival.

RHF letter to the QEII Centre where Palestine Expo 2017 is being held

There is a
duty on solicitors under the second principle of the Law Society’s Code
of Conduct to act with integrity.
There is also a subsidiary principle to ‘behave in a way that
maintains the trust the public places in you’.
It is clearly the case that Festenstein has done neither. I would encourage people to submit a
complaint in writing to the Law Society concerning Festenstein’s deceptive and
dishonest conduct.

Festenstein
and JHRW’s use of the ‘anti-Semitism’ scare is of course par for the
course. Anything to do with the Palestinians
is, by definition, ‘anti-Semitic’. In Israel the army and police force use force
and violence to close down anything they disagree with e.g. last weekend’s attack
on Jewish protesters in Jerusalem who were trying to prevent the normal march
of Israeli settler youth through the Arab quarter, replete with their chants of
‘death to the Arabs’. One Jewish woman had her arm broken.

Welcome to RHF Solicitors - not only are they politically bankrupt but their legal expertise is in bankruptcy - even JHRW according to its accounts is bankrupt!

It seems
that Festenstein has form on these matters.
He threatened Cambridge University if it allowed Israel Apartheid Week
to go ahead. It even demanded the names
of individual students. It also mounted
a failed judicial review challenge to 3 local councils for passing pro-Israel motions.

Festenstein also
wrote threatening legal action to Celtic Football Club and UEFA after fans had
greeted an Israeli football club Hapoel
Beer Sheva with a mass of Palestinian flags. JHRW on that occasion substituted Nazi flags
for Palestinian ones, presumably that was what they wished for.

JHRW is an
interesting organisation, or rather it isn’t an organisation. It consists of 2 limited companies (presumably
so that in the case of failed legal actions or libels, its directors won’t be
legally liable).

The Directors of Jewish Rights Watch Ltd. - all of whom reside at Festenstein's solicitors' office!

Soldiers get ready to attack Jewish protesters in Jerusalem at the weekend when trying to stop settler march through Arab quarter - thousands of settler youth ramage through the area chanting 'death to the Arabs' - in Europe they used to chant 'death to the Jews' - such is the 'Jewish' state

JHRW does not seem to be that healthy financially - then again most transactions are probably off the books in the form of Israeli government slush-fund grants

So when
Festenstein wrote to QEII on behalf of his ‘clients’ he was lying through his
teeth. He was his own client. Despite accusing the organisers of Palestine Expo
of not informing QEII of who they were, it is in fact Festenstein who was
dishonest in not explaining his connection with his ‘client’.

Judging by
its accounts Jewish Rights Watch owes over £13,000. JHRWE has £100 in share capital, all owned by
Festenstein.

Recently formed, this company has but one director - the same Festenstein - it must be difficult representing himself

It is therefore disappointing that the management
of the QEII Centre gave these racists the time of day. On JHRW’s web site there is a copy of a letter that
the QEII Centre has apparently sent, saying that are carrying out ‘due
diligence’ into the organisers of Expo 2017.
Instead of putting the organisers under stress and strain they would
perhaps better employ their resources into doing a little basic research into
the bona fides of bent solicitor Festenstein and his so-called Jewish Human
Rights Watch.

QEII response to JHRW - let us hope they don't take fright at the scare words 'anti-Semitism'

Because the
one thing that JHRW is not concerned about is human rights – whether Jewish or Palestinian.

An unprecedented hate campaign
has been unleashed on the social networks aimed at wrecking a ground-breaking
two day event to celebrate Palestinian life and culture. Palestine Expo 2017 is
billed as the biggest ever social, cultural and entertainment event of its kind
in Europe; however, there are those calling for the festival to be stopped
before it even starts.

Trading on unfounded fears and
using the Westminster and Manchester terrorist attacks as ammunition, some
groups and Twitter campaigns have described the expo in London on 8 and 9 July
as a “festival of hate”. Others have been more targeted and made potentially
defamatory statements, accusing the organisers of having terrorist links in a
desperate bid to stop the event — for which thousands of tickets have already
been sold — from going ahead.

Israel doesn't need to ban dissent - it just breaks its arm - Jewish protester being dragged off in Jerusalem when trying to stop annual pogrom against Arabs in Jerusalem

Now lawyers on all sides are
examining the accusations and allegations about the event in July, which is
designed to celebrate Palestinian culture, art, food and history. Robert
Festenstein of RHF Solicitors in Manchester represents Jewish Human Rights
Watch; he has sent a letter to the prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Conference
Centre in Westminster urging it not to host the event. The letter makes several
damaging allegations against the event’s co-sponsors – Friends of Al-Aqsa and
Palestine Solidarity Campaign – both of whom are taking legal advice and
vehemently deny the accusations made against them.

Festenstein’s letter has found
its way onto social networks and has been distributed widely. “Our client
[JHRW],” it claims, “is aware that the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, who are
also advertising the event, has clear links to the terrorist group Hamas.”

The letter further informs the
venue that Friends of Al-Aqsa had its bank account with the Co-operative Bank
closed. It claims that both pro-Palestine organisations “support Jew hate” and
have “no right of audience anywhere in the UK, especially not near the scene of
the recent Westminster terrorism attack.”

A campaign on social media calling for the ban of the Palestinian Expo 2017 [Twitter]

Despite several email requests
for a comment, RHF Solicitors have not responded other than to ask, “Can you
please confirm how you obtained our Mr Festenstein’s e-mail address? We look
forward to your response, following which we will consider your request
further.” Subsequent requests have failed to elicit a comment, even after
revealing that his email address was obtained via the Law Society website.

“Palestine Expo,” explained PSC
Director Ben Jamal, “will be a celebration of the rich Palestinian culture,
with traditional dancing, food, artisan goods, art exhibits, and children’s
entertainment alongside talks on the current political situation.” He described
the allegations as “false and disturbing” before adding, “We are sure that
reasonable people have no issue with any national group celebrating their heritage.”

Friends of Al-Aqsa was
established in 1997. It describes itself as an NGO concerned with defending the
human rights of Palestinians and protecting the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa in
Jerusalem. A spokesman declined to comment due to pending “legal issues”.

Several of the apparently leading
opponents of Palestine Expo who appear to have led the Twitter campaigns
against the event have been contacted for a comment. At the time of writing,
they have failed to respond to any of the allegations that they have made.

JHRW makes it clear that it has nothing to do with human rights, except in so far as it tries to destroy the human rights of supporters of the Palestinians. BDS is its main objective

Nonetheless, it is hard to see
how the damaging allegations of promoting “Jew Hate” and “Terrorism” could be
substantiated when looking at the widely publicised programme at “PalExpo”.
This includes exhibitions by internationally acclaimed photojournalist Hamed
Abu Rahma and award-winning photographer Rich Wiles.

Among the 70 stalls at the event
will be examples of fashion, health, beauty, arts, entertainment and food
focussing on Palestine and its people. Lively panel discussions, workshops and
talks will be on offer while spoken-word performers, musicians and artists will
demonstrate how to use creativity and the arts in campaigns and activism.

Speakers and performers will
include the popular Leanne Mohammed and Muslim Belal, Aamer Rehman and music by
the children’s group Fatafeat. Dave Randall, described as a “faithless
guitarist and producer” will discuss his book ‘Sound System: The Political
Power of Music’.

The much-admired Jews for
Boycotting Israeli Goods along with Free Speech on Israel will be discussing
anti-Semitism. Visitors will be invited to take part in discussions and
workshops on Muslim and Jewish experiences in Europe from an academic
perspective. More details will follow soon.

Palestinian cuisine will also be
a major focus with the opportunity to “master the art of Palestinian cooking”
at a live, purpose-built kitchen in the food court. The author of ‘Palestine on
a Plate’, Joudie Kalla, will make an appearance.

A campaign on social media calling
for the ban of the Palestinian Expo 2017 [Twitter] Click to enlarge

Billed as the “perfect space to
unleash your inner child” it’s hard to see how the two day event could be
viewed as a festival of hate or a terrorist threat.

Israel and its supporters seize
every opportunity to divert attention from its own human rights abuses and
contempt for international law. “If the Manchester attacker was Palestinian and
the victims Israeli,” moaned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this
week, “the terrorist’s family would receive a stipend from Mahmoud Abbas.” It
is possible that he used the Manchester atrocity rather cynically as a stick to
beat the Palestinian Authority leader because, on Tuesday morning in Ramallah,
US President Donald Trump heaped praise on Abbas for being ready to resume
peace negotiations with Israel, which Netanyahu is trying to stall.

Other Israeli ministers posted
tweets very similar to Netanyahu’s suggesting that they were part of a
coordinated government campaign to exploit the Manchester tragedy. Certainly, a
similar coordinated effort to have the Palestine Expo stopped before it even
starts can be evidenced by doing a quick search on the social networks,
although there is no suggestion this is being organised or instigated by JHRW
or its lawyers.

Nevertheless, it is difficult not
to conclude that the pro-Israel lobby swings into action to trash the
reputations of Palestinians and those who support their struggle for their
legal and human rights every time that something positive about Palestine
emerges which will expose the Zionist narrative for what it is. Indeed, Robert
Festenstein and his chums have a bit of a track record on this already. Some of
their activities were exposed by my colleague Ben White
on these pages in March last year.

What’s more, Festenstein also
tried to get the chair of Interpal, Ibrahim Hewitt, banned from speaking at a
fund-raising event organised by the British charity in Manchester in September
2014. In a very aggressive email to a local councillor, he alleged that “it is
the likes of Mr Hewitt and his accomplices who are responsible for the deaths,
rapes and destruction in the Middle East…”

Interestingly, in his
mini-campaign to get Hewitt banned from Manchester the lawyer said nothing
about a talk that he was due to give just a few days after the Interpal event,
in the same venue, for a British advocacy organisation. Mr Festenstein’s
“concern”, it would appear, wasn’t so much about stopping “peddlers of hatred”
as he claimed, but more of an attempt to damage an event at which funds would
be raised by a British charity to help Palestinians in desperate need.

A campaign on social media calling to put a stop to the Palestinian Expo 2017 [Twitter]

The management of the QEII
Conference Centre also failed to respond to MEMO enquiries on Thursday,
although it is understood that it has carried out extensive due diligence
checks regarding the allegations contained in the JHRW lawyer’s letter, and is
content to allow Palestine Expo 2017 to proceed.

Having trawled extensively
through the social networks and the programme lined up at the expo, a
reasonable person has to conclude that there is indeed a hate fest in progress,
but it’s certainly not organised by Palestinians or their growing network of
supporters from various faith communities and among those of no faith. Far from
promoting hate, Palestine Expo 2017 promises a celebration of culture, arts,
crafts, food and music promoting the country and its people in a positive
light. Who wouldn’t support that? Only those with no grasp of great British
values such as democracy, justice and mutual respect and tolerance of others,
that’s who.